


The Loki Alphabet

by pinkpallet



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Loki (Marvel) Lives, Series of Connected Oneshots, Thor is a good brother, Tony Stark Lives, beginning of infinity war is ignored
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2019-11-17 19:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18104624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkpallet/pseuds/pinkpallet
Summary: This is going to be a series of Loki-centered oneshots, with each one of them covering a different topic and being arranged in an alphabetical order. This ignores the beginning of IW, Loki lives and helps the Avengers in defeating Thanos. He is currently living on Earth just like everyone else. And the snippets of his daily life during that time are going to be covered in this story. There is also going to be a subplot of Loki slowly accepting the heroic side inside himself and learning how to become a superhero. A lot of things are different from Endgame.





	1. A For Asgard

**Disclaimer: - I don’t own any of the characters or places mentioned in this fic.**

**Note:- This is my first time writing about Loki or MCU in general. I hope you like this!**

**Ch. 1:- A For Asgard**

* * *

 

Loki missed Asgard. He let out a sigh as he stood near the window of a small flat in Midgard that he shared with his brother. It obviously wasn’t easy for the two of them to stay in such a small place together, but they were trying.

Right now Thor had gone to attend some important meeting of the Avengers which had given Loki some much needed free time and space. Too bad, he had spent most of this free time thinking about his old home.

Loki stared out of the window and saw some of his fellow Asgardians walking down the street, trying extremely hard to adjust to the Earth ways. He felt bad for them, but at least they didn’t had to endure hateful glares from most of the Midgardians. Loki had thought that after he’d helped the Avengers in defeating Thanos and the fact about him being mind-controlled by Thanos was made public, the people of Earth would forgive him for the New York incident. But that was not the case from what he had experienced so far.

Loki missed Asgard. It was true that he was mocked and humiliated over there. Was never quite given the ‘prince treatment’ that Thor always received. But still, for all of its faults, that planet had been his home.

When he was on Asgard, he felt like he had an aim and purpose, a goal in life. He never quite wanted the throne. He just wanted to teach Thor a lesson and to knock down his arrogance by a few notches. But once Thor was fit enough to be a king, he would have been happy to be an adviser to him.

Loki snorted as he remembered how badly his plan at Thor’s coronation had failed, which reminded him of everything on Asgard all over again.

Apparently the Earth people had a term for what he was feeling right now. ‘Homesick’ or something like that.

Loki missed Asgard. Because it reminded him of the one person who had loved him the most. His mother, Frigga.

She was the one who had always stood up for him, chosen to defend him even when everyone else was against him. And now her home was gone. He sometimes wondered what Frigga would have thought of Thor and Loki’s decision to release Surtur on Asgard and destroy it. Even if they did it to defeat Hela, Loki was sure his mother would have been hurt to see her planet gone.

Loki remembered the one time when he was a kid and his magic had gone out of control, he had accidentally made their entire palace invisible. Odin had been furious about it. Loki himself had been close to tears because he loved the palace and had thought he had vanished it forever. But Frigga had managed to make it visible again and had comforted him in a very loving and gentle manner.

Now he would never see that palace again. For that matter, he would never get to see Frigga again either.

Loki had no idea when, but he’d started crying. He hastily wiped his eyes and hurried into the kitchen to find something to eat.

‘Something sweet’, he decided firmly. He knew eating sweet stuff cheered him up.

He found a box of cookies and started munching on them desperately. He remembered Thor saying something about leaving half of them for him. But right now he didn’t cared. He needed these to get his mind off those thoughts.

But the sweet taste of the cookies reminded him of the sweet and delicious taste of the food made in their palace which none of the Earth food that he had eaten so far could ever compete with.

He dropped the cookie and groaned. Why did he had to miss Asgard  this badly again?

Loki remembered a certain spot on top of the mountain which was his favorite place on the entire planet. If one looked down from it, they could see Asgardian homes arranged in a heart-shaped pattern. And at night-time the lights of these houses glowed in the darkness making the pattern look really beautiful.

Loki often got teased for liking something so silly, but he didn’t cared. Or at least he tried not to. He liked the peace and quietness of his favorite spot, and often spent hours over there practicing his magic.

He couldn’t believe how an entire planet like Asgard could get destroyed just like that. How his home could get destroyed just like that. He had never even known he loved his planet so much until it was gone. Talk about not realizing how much you love something until it is too late.

Just as he was thinking about all these things, the door opened and someone entered their house.

Loki let out another sigh. Of course he knew who this person was. Only two people had the key to that flat and one of them was currently sitting with a box of cookies on his lap looking thoroughly depressed.

Thor entered, looking tired and for some reason extremely awkward. His and Loki’s gaze met for a second. Loki was about to ask him what had happened at the Avengers’ meeting, that is, until he remembered their fight over Thor insulting his cooking abilities in the morning, and decided not to speak until he apologized.

Thor stopped in front of him fidgeting uneasily. Finally he said, “I have noticed that you miss Asgard a lot brother. So I brought something for you.”

He shoved a gift in a surprised Loki’s hands, and then said, “Also, your cooking is nice,” before hurrying inside.

Loki blinked. He wondered how many of the Avengers must have forced him to do this exactly? But still it was nice and he liked it.

He slowly opened the gift and a huge smile spread over his face. It was a miniature replica of their palace on Asgard. It looked exactly like it, refreshing a lot of Loki’s memories and making him both nostalgic and happy.

He realized he needed to thank Thor for this. He also realized not all was lost of Asgard. Some of its people had survived. He and Thor had survived. And he would be resurrecting Asgard in his own way if he managed to repair his relationship with Thor.

* * *

 

 


	2. B for Banner

  **Note:- Hey there, back with a new chapter! Hope you all like it! :)**

**Ch. 2:- B For Banner**

* * *

 

Loki couldn’t believe it. This was the second time in a week he was all alone at home for the entire day. Thor had gone to attend another Avengers meeting. Loki didn’t cared, but he felt like the Avengers were definitely discussing something important.

He was currently reading a book about Earth’s geography and different temperature zones. He had decided that if he had to live on this planet forever, he might as well find out everything there is to know about this place. Not that he hadn’t visited Earth many times in the past, but there was a difference between simply visiting a place and making it your home.

Just as he was wondering whether it would be more suitable for his frost giant body to find a colder place to live, the doorbell rang, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He knew it wouldn’t be Thor. He had a key to their flat; he wouldn’t exactly need to ring that stupid doorbell thing. So most likely it was one of the other Asgardians, maybe they needed his help for something. 

With a sigh, he got up and went to open the door. He was both shocked and surprised to find Bruce Banner standing in front of him. He couldn’t understand why on earth Banner would be here? There was absolutely no reason for him to come to visit him after all. That is, until the obvious struck him. Banner wasn’t here for him after all.

“Thor left for the meeting about an hour ago,” Loki answered stiffly, certain that that’s what Banner had came for.

“I know, I met him over there,” Banner answered in a slightly nervous tone.

Loki had no idea whatever Banner was nervous about. _He_ wasn’t the one who had been smashed during their fight after all.

But then he realized what Banner had said, and in a slightly irritated voice asked him, “Then why are you here?”

“To talk to you of course,” Banner said in what he thought would sound like a cheerful tone, but the effort had failed spectacularly.

Loki simply stared at him. His mind was currently working as fast as possible on how best to make it clear that he was not interested in talking with Thor’s friends without coming across as rude.

But before he could say anything, Banner asked, “Can I come inside? I wanted to discuss something really important.”

Loki sighed. Any hope he had of avoiding this conversation was gone the moment Banner mentioned that he was here to talk about something important, because of course he would be. Why else would anyone bother visiting Loki? Didn’t people only talked to him when they needed his powers and completely forget about him after that? He was sure this would be something like that.

“Sure, you can come inside,” Loki said, still in a very stiff tone and went inside sitting on the single sofa in their living room, leaving Banner to sit on a very hard chair.

Banner looked around the place for some time in a way that Loki found incredibly rude. He then said to Loki, “Wow, how do you two manage to live here? I mean, it must be such a change from the whole palace stuff.”

“It is. Thanks for noticing,” Loki said.

“I was just trying to understand-“Banner began, but Loki interrupted him,

“It’s something you can’t understand, so don’t even bother. Why are you here again?” he knew he was being rude but he couldn’t help it. Something about the Avengers just managed to annoy him a lot.

“Well, you see, we have been talking a lot about you lately,” Banner told him.

Loki raised his eyebrows, surprised.

“And why would that be? I haven’t done anything this time. Or am I in trouble again?” he asked.

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that,” Banner said hastily, “It’s just that, you know, after Thanos’s attack, we have been recruiting a lot of new members into Avengers. You must have heard about that, right?”

Loki nodded. He had read about that in the things these Midgardians called ‘Newspapers’. Lots of new heroes who had helped the Avengers in their fight against Thanos had been offered to join the Avengers. He knew one of them was Valkyrie.

He still didn’t understood what this had to do with him though. And why was Banner talking about it with him. He looked at Banner questioningly.

“Well, I am not really the best person for this job. Usually Fury does this. But he wanted me to ask you, because I knew you better,” Banner muttered.

“Ask me what?” Loki asked feeling confused. He had a feeling he was not going to like whatever Banner was about to say.

“Would you like to join the Avengers?” Banner finally asked him.

Loki stared at him in shock for one whole minute. Finally, he asked in a calm tone, “Bruce, are you out of your mind?”

“Well, _I_ wasn’t the one who made this suggestion during our meetings,” Banner said in a defensive tone.

“ _This_ was what you all were discussing during your current meetings?” Loki asked, feeling both annoyed and surprised.

“Yes,” Banner answered with a sigh.

“And who is the genius who came up with this proposal?” Loki asked.

“Steve Rogers, you remember him, right?” Banner asked.

“ _He_ came up with this idea? I actually used to like that guy! I used to think he has some brains inside him!” Loki exclaimed.

“You know, you are really sounding like you don’t like this offer,” Banner commented.

“Of course I don’t!” Loki snapped.

“But why?” Banner asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Loki couldn’t believe it! Wasn’t Banner supposed to be a highly intelligent guy? Why exactly couldn’t he understand what Loki’s problem was?

“I can’t join the Avengers,” Loki answered, already knowing the short reply wouldn’t be enough.

“But it would be really good for you. We all were discussing this, and most of us agree that you have now became a good enough person to join the Avengers,” Banner said.

"So I am a good enough person only _now_? Apparently I wasn't one when I had saved Thor and Jane Foster," Loki reminded him. 

"It's...not like that. It's just that, things are different now," Banner muttered, looking like he didn't knew what to say. 

"You mean things are different now only because I am listening to Thor now? Behaving like an obedient little brother should?" Loki asked with a bitter laugh. 

"I didn't meant that! I was just telling you that, we all were discussing about you-" but Banner was interrupted by Loki, who almost shouted, 

“You all were discussing about me, without including me in those discussions? You had several meetings about me without asking me even once whether I even wanted to be a part of all this?”

“It’s not like that. We just wanted to make sure that everyone was okay with recruiting you in Avengers before approaching you about this topic,” Banner tried to explain to him.

But Loki was in no mood to listen. He still couldn’t believe the Avengers were planning something like this!

“The answer is still no,” he replied stubbornly.

“If it helps, I immediately agreed to Steve’s proposal,” Banner said softly, “After seeing you fight in the war against Hela, and later against Thanos, I just couldn’t say no to the idea.”

“What does Thor thinks about this?” Loki asked despite himself. He was trying very hard not to care, but a part of him really wanted to know.

“He- well, he doesn’t exactly like the idea, you see. He sort of doesn’t want you in Avengers,” Banner answered, but seeing the look on Loki’s face, he hastily continued, “But we are all trying to change his mind. He’ll listen to us soon enough.”

“No he wouldn’t. And you should stop trying, really. For the first time, both of us agree on something, I don’t want that to get ruined,” Loki answered in a bitter tone.

Of course Thor wouldn’t want him in Avengers. Loki was pretty sure he already knew what the reason behind that was. 

“Loki, think about this for a second, please. If you join the Avengers people will actually get to see the good inside you. Even I wouldn’t have believed you could ever change back when you had attacked New York. But later on, I realized you were capable of doing good things too. Don’t you want other people to see that as well?” Banner asked him.

“You don’t understand Bruce, people can change, but some things never change. It is literally impossible for me to leave this small house without using illusions, because the moment some Midgardian recognizes me they start giving me hateful glances. Not that I care, but if you are thinking that just joining your group of Superheroes would be enough to make people forget about the New York attack, then you are wrong. Actually, I think, they might start viewing you all in a bad light if you let people like me join your team,” Loki told him.

It hurt him to say ‘people like me’, but he knew it was true. He was different than those noble, selfless superheroes, and he could never even imagine himself becoming one of them.

“You are wrong,” Banner finally said, after a long pause, “And I want you to reconsider your decision.”

“Or what, you will change into Hulk?” Loki asked, now feeling tired of this conversation.

“Not really, but I still think you should change your decision,” Banner replied.

“My decision won’t change,” Loki answered with an air of finality, silently indicating to Bruce Banner that this conversation was over.

“Well, I’ll leave now. Don’t tell Thor I had came to visit you, he would be mad at us if he found out we had contacted you directly about this,” Banner said and turned to leave.

Loki found it a little amusing that the rest of the Avengers were hiding this from Thor. And he was also relieved to see Banner leave at last.

“Goodbye Bruce,” he said, for once being polite towards him.

“Goodbye,” Banner said in a slightly disappointed tone and left.

Loki wondered whether Banner was disappointed because he hadn’t agreed to join the Avengers. But he couldn’t have done that. He had his reasons, and they made perfect sense to him.

Loki went and stood near the window. He could see Banner leaving as fast as he possibly could, probably to avoid a confrontation with Thor.

They had a perfect view of New York’s skyline from their window. Loki looked out at the city he had once attacked. This city, as well as Earth, had several heroes to protect it now. He was pretty sure it didn’t need him.

* * *

 

 

 

 


	3. C For Choices

**Author Note: - Hey there guys, back with a new chapter! Hope you like it! :)**

**Ch. 3: - C For Choices**

* * *

 

Loki checked his reflection in the mirror. He had disguised himself as a short, red-head man, with features completely different than his. Yes, he nodded to himself, he was ready to step out of the door and walk amongst the Midgardians.

“What’s taking you so long?” Thor finally asked him.

“I was just perfecting my disguise,” Loki answered calmly. He came up with a new disguise every time he had to go out and mix amongst the Earth people. 

He turned away from the mirror and looked at Thor who let out an exasperated sigh, clearly tired of Loki disguising himself every time he had to go in the outside world. He knew Thor thought it was about time he started living on Earth normally. But he knew he couldn’t do that. He would disguise himself every single time for the rest of his life if it meant that he would be spared from the hateful glances of the Earth people, and also if it meant that the Midgardians didn’t had to look in the face of the person who had attacked their planet.

“Why do you go through the trouble of coming up with a new disguise every time? What’s wrong with just using one disguise?” Thor asked him.

“It keeps me busy, I like coming up with different disguises,” Loki told him.

“Well, if you like being busy, you’ll enjoy doing the shopping brother. All you have to do is buy items from this list, and pay them the money correctly. You’ll understand it even faster than me, you are smart,” Thor said with a smile.

Loki blinked in surprise. It was very rare for Thor to compliment him. He wouldn’t admit it but he secretly cherished it whenever his brother praised him. 

“You sure you don’t want me to come with you? The Midgardian currency can be quite difficult to understand at first time,” Thor said, once Loki had taken the list of shopping items from him.

“I’ll manage,” Loki said with a slight smile.

He was just about to leave, when Thor said something that made him both nostalgic and sad at the same time.

“We used to have Palace guards and servants to do such chores back at Asgard,” Thor remembered fondly.

“Don’t,” was all Loki said before he hurried out of the house, he was worried if he stayed there any longer he might become homesick again and start crying.

Three hours, four stores, five full shopping bags and several currency confusions later, Loki was starting to think that he would really leave the shopping chore for Thor. He was already managing the cooking chore as it is, and he was pretty sure he was doing it excellently. 

But just then, his attention was caught by something displayed along the window of the shop right next to him. It was a box of chocolate-chip cookies. Loki knew very well that this Earthly invention tasted delicious and he simply needed to have it. Especially considering that he had finished their last box of cookies, not leaving any for Thor, so he decided he should buy some for his brother too. They were getting along well these days after all, and Loki didn’t want to ruin it.

Thinking about this, he walked inside the shop. It was a little difficult for him to make his way around the crowded little place with five stuffed up shopping bags in his hands, but he still somehow managed to grab a box of those cookies. 

Just as he was walking near the counter to give money in exchange for those cookies, a large television hanging on the front-wall of the shop, started flashing a news, which grabbed Loki’s attention alright.

It said-  _ The latest invention made by Stark industries has somehow gone rogue during its testing. It is a giant robot, bright blue in color, and it is extremely dangerous. If you see it anywhere, please inform the concerned authorities immediately. _

Loki recognized the name Stark industries instantly. He almost had the urge to roll his eyes. Obviously, with the kind of stuff they made, this was going to happen sooner or later. 

Just then, his phone started buzzing loudly. Yes, he had a phone now. And no, he was by no means an expert on how to use it. Besides, currently his hands were full, so he decided to ignore the call and went towards the counter.

Once he had paid the money and was out of the shop, he finally took out his phone and saw four missed calls from Thor. Loki fumbled with the phone for a bit, before managing to call his brother. 

“Brother, where are you?” Thor literally shouted from the other end.

“I only just now finished shopping,” Loki told him. 

“Then use those tricks of yours and come home immediately!” Thor yelled again.

“That’s magic, not tricks,” Loki pointed out.

“Now’s not the time for this argument Loki, your life is in danger,” Thor spoke in a panicked tone.

“What do you mean?” Loki asked immediately.

“What I mean to say is that-“ but before Loki could find out what Thor was going to say, he heard a loud noise of something large landing on the ground behind him, followed by panicked yells and shouts of people.

Loki turned behind and saw the giant blue robot, shown in the video footage on the television in the shop, standing before him in the street. Something about the way that robot was staring at Loki was a little odd, as though he knew it was Loki beneath that disguise. 

Just as Loki was wondering why the robot was staring at him, said robot raised an arm and shot fire through his hand, straight at Loki. He moved out of the way just in time, but the fire grazed his arm, and burnt it badly. 

He was angry now. He was a frost giant, and fire was not good for them. He had no idea why this random robot had decided to target him of all people? 

The robot raised his hand again, shooting more and more fire in Loki’s direction, who was finding it difficult to keep on dodging it. He looked around him, people were staring. No surprise there. But at least they looked worried for him, thanks to his disguise.

But he knew he couldn't stay in that disguise for a long time. The robot had recognized him and was attacking him for some reason. 

He instantly came up with a different disguise. One that he had used in the past, and tried to mix up in the crowd. But to his surprise, the robot somehow seemed to know it was him. Loki was not prepared for this. Another fireball hit him right in the face. 

Loki got really annoyed and dropping all disguises and illusions, he stood before the robot as his real self. There were instant gasps of shock and disgust from the crowd. But Loki tried to ignore it. 

“Who are you and why are you attacking me?” he finally questioned the robot angrily.

But the robot answered by throwing more fire in his direction.

The crowd started laughing. Some people started cheering the robot. Loki couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to get as far away from all these people as possible, he wanted to go back to Asgard. 

Just then, the robot became suddenly alert, as though he had seen someone behind Loki. He immediately flew up in the air, and away from Loki’s sight. 

Loki looked behind, Tony Stark was getting out of a car looking really worried, “I think I need to get suited up,” he said, staring at the robot.

“Why was your robot attacking me?” Loki asked him angrily. 

“It isn't exactly mine. I mean, it is made by my company, but I haven’t worked on it. If I had developed it myself, it wouldn’t have gone rogue that way, you know,” Tony said.

“You didn’t developed it?” Loki asked him.

“No, after the war with Thanos, I needed a break. I was on a holiday with Pepper, and my company was developing this robot. I should’ve never given them the permission,” Tony said to him.

Loki guessed Pepper must be his girlfriend or wife. 

“But why was your robot attacking me?” he asked again.

“Well, when Thor made it clear that you were going to stay on Earth with him, the rest of us thought we needed some way of keeping you under control. I mean, what if you do something like the New York attack again? So we decided to create a robot that would be specifically designed to defeat you,” Tony told him.

“I worked to defeat Thanos with you all, but you still don’t trust me. Just last week Bruce Banner had came to offer me a place in Avengers, and all this time you were doing this?” Loki asked, feeling shocked and angry.

“Well, you didn’t accept his offer, did you? All the more reason for us to be suspicious. Besides, this robot was just meant to be a precautionary measure, he was never actually supposed to harm you,” Tony said to him.

“Well, he hasn’t remained a precautionary measure anymore. And I don’t think I am the only person that thing would be targeting. He could try to hurt other people too,” Loki said.

“I know, I am going to suit up now and go after him. You better return to your home, and stay there. Thor would be getting worried,” Tony said.

Loki didn’t needed telling twice. He teleported on the spot, and entered their flat. Normally Thor hated it when he entered like this, according to Thor he should enter through the door like Earth people do. But apparently today was a different case.

Because Thor rushed towards him and started examining him with concern the moment he teleported in their flat. 

“What happened to your face?” Thor exclaimed.

“That robot, which you were going to warn me about,” Loki answered.

“I am going to punch Stark for creating that thing!” Thor said angrily.

“That would be no good, I think he might be the only one who can stop that thing, since his company created it,” Loki reminded him.

“I know, but I am still going to go and have a word about it with him and the other Avengers. And you better stay in the house until I return,” Thor said and stomped out of the flat in anger.

Loki sighed. It was typical of Thor to get this angry over something. But this time Loki was angry too. When Banner had offered him to join Avengers, even if he had denied that offer, a small part inside him had been happy that he’d been considered, that they had actually wanted him.

But now that happiness had dissipated away. He now realized that they had only wanted him in Avengers for his powers. They still didn’t trusted him and probably never will. 

Loki spent the next four hours reading books and eating cookies. But nothing helped to remove the morning incident from his mind. Thor had still not returned and neither was he picking up Loki’s calls.

Finally, Loki turned on the television in their room, this was one electronic gadget he didn’t had problem mastering. He flicked through the channels till he reached one that was telling news, here he paused. 

Apparently, a team of five Avengers was searching for the robot all over the city. But no one could find it. The news channel was telling that, the robot was cleverly designed to disguise himself as human when he wasn’t fighting anyone, which must be making it quite tricky to find him.

“This is looking really difficult,” Loki muttered to himself.

Just then, the news channel told that the robot was designed to detect frost giants. And could recognize them under any form of illusion.

Loki narrowed his eyes, as he finally realized how the robot must have detected him. 

He had also started noticing a pattern in the way the robot's mind was working. He was attacking places filled with civilians and then quickly disguising as a human. He guessed those human disguises were what were making it difficult for the Avengers to catch him. 

He shook his head, letting out a deep sigh, and fished out his phone. He dialled Thor's number. 

“I am busy right now, brother. We still haven't found that robot,” Thor's loud voice immediately boomed from the other side.

“I know. Is Stark over there?” Loki asked Thor. 

“He is. Why?” Thor asked him back. 

“I want to speak with him,” Loki said. 

“You  _ what _ ?” Thor asked surprisedly. Loki had never exactly shown any interest in socializing with Thor's friends. 

“You heard me the first time brother,” Loki spoke calmly. 

“Alright, I'll give him the phone,” Thor said. It was difficult to tell whether he was happy about Loki finally showing interest in talking to his friends or was still too surprised. 

A minute later, Tony Stark's voice was heard from the device, “You wanted to talk? Your brother is driving me nuts right now. He thinks I wanted to murder you.”

“I am still trying to understand what other purpose that robot could’ve been for,” Loki replied feeling annoyed. 

“Now listen, it was only going to be put into use if you had done something wrong. What's currently happening is a mistake, and I am sorry for that. But I don't have time to argue with you. I have a robot to catch,” Tony said angrily. 

“I didn't called to argue with you. I have a plan to stop that robot,” Loki said. 

“Okay, I am listening,” Tony replied, suddenly sounding very attentive. 

For the next ten minutes, Loki explained his plan in detail to Tony, who seemed to be listening silently from the other side. Finally, when Loki stopped speaking, he heard Tony's voice from the other end, “Your plan makes sense Loki, but don't you think it could be a little dangerous for you?”

“I am a God, do you think a mere robot of yours could be a danger to me?” Loki snarled. 

Loki wasn't sure but he had a feeling that Tony Stark was rolling his eyes on the other end. 

“So, when are you getting started?” Tony finally asked him.

“Immediately. And don't you dare tell my brother about this. He would be mad at both of us,” Loki warned him.

“I know. And he would be more than mad at me. He would kill me if anything happened to you. So make sure to stay safe. And good luck,” with that Tony ended the call. 

Loki clutched the phone in his hand feeling somewhat worried. He hadn't fought with anyone ever since the war with Thanos. And that one didn't brought back any happy or encouraging memories. He hoped he hadn't gotten rusty. 

Shaking away these thoughts, he stood up and went out of the house, this time without using any illusions. 

A few minutes later, he was walking openly on the streets. Most people cowered in fear or ran away at the sight of him, the moment they recognized him. A few bold ones called him names and said insulting things. But he ignored all of that and kept walking. 

Just then, he heard the same loud noise from earlier. He turned around instantly. It was that robot again. But this time Loki was ready. He at once created multiple illusions of himself, that looked exactly like him, to confuse the robot. 

But he received a nasty surprise, when the robot released a stream of fire from its hand and it hit the real Loki right in the face. 

Loki was annoyed. He had clearly underestimated the humans. They had created something that could detect where he was no matter what he did. 

Just then his phone started ringing. He dodged a couple more fireballs thrown by the robot, and hastily picked up the phone. 

“We detected the robot's location. We are coming right away. Just don't let it mix up in the crowd before we arrive,” Tony told Loki.

“Yes, fine,” Loki said and ended the call. The next moment another fireball hit his face. 

He groaned in pain and stared hard at the robot. He was feeling really mad right now. 

He created a giant spike of ice around his right hand, and ran towards the robot to stab it. But the robot threw a fireball at his hand and the ice started melting away. 

But Loki kept on running, he was close enough to the robot now. He took out one of his trusted knives and before the robot could analyze his next moments stabbed him right where his main circuit was. It was a good thing Tony had told him earlier where exactly he should stab the robot.

The robot exploded and the next few seconds were a blur of smoke, fire and a deafening noise. Loki got thrown behind on his back and lay there shaking for a few moments due to the after-effect of the explosion. 

When he opened his eyes, he saw someone offering him a hand. Gingerly, he took it and stood up. The smoke made it a little difficult to see, but he still recognized Steve Rogers alright. He was smiling at him. 

Besides him, Ironman landed on the ground. He removed his helmet and gave a slight smile to both of them. Loki was seeing him in his suit after a long time. He hadn't seen that suit since the war against Thanos actually. Now he felt that Tony looked tired and somewhat guilty. 

“You did it on your own. Good job!,” Tony said to him. 

Loki nodded and said, “Next time you design a robot to kill me, make sure to create it yourself. Otherwise such things happen.”

“I don't think there is a need to create another such robot. You really earned our trust today,” Tony said to him. 

“Our offer for joining the Avengers is still available you know,” Steve added. 

A sudden anger flared inside Loki upon hearing those words. 

“I don't think I am interested in joining an organization that creates monsters behind my back to kill me,” he replied coldly. 

“We did it because we thought it might be necessary. You had made some wrong choices in the past. Although, you are making the right choices now,” Steve said to him. 

“What do you mean?” Loki asked him.

“You chose to put yourself in danger to save others today. That's a very brave choice to make,” Tony explained. 

“I just did it because-” Loki paused. Why had he done this again? To make up for attacking this very city in the past? But hadn't he already made up for that by working with the Avengers against Thanos? So why did he still felt like he owed something to the Midgardians? Or had he helped them due to some other reason? 

“I am tired. I am going home,” he muttered, not wanting to discuss any of this further. 

“I thought Gods don't get tired?” Tony asked in a teasing tone.

“Shut up,” Loki said and returned to his little flat. All the while hoping that Thor doesn't find out about the risk he had taken today.

* * *

 

  
  
  
  



End file.
